This is routine Roth as usual. Homophobia, attempted nihilism, vapid writing, paper thin plot, and nonsensical all the way...

Newsday

January 13, 2006

Although I spent much of the second half staring into my lap while listening to a cacophony of screams and shop tools, I processed enough of the first to appreciate Roth's sinister evocation of a Slovakian provincial town.